Let it never be said that you can run too many planetarium programs… this week we look at Starry Night Pro, a comprehensive desktop sky simulator. We were lucky to receive this bundled with one of our Earth Science courses in pursuit of our teaching degree with Western Governors University, and it has become a standard short-cut on our desktop. Just how does it stack up against what’s out there? [Read more...]

The market for astronomical online software has really exploded in the past few years, and amateur astronomers and educators have reaped the benefit. What was offered by many companies for prices sometimes over 100$ a pop now can be had for free. Programs such as HNSky, Stellarium, and Google Earth all offer Planetarium-style software that can be run right on your desktop. This week, we’ll look at Microsoft’s entry into the market with their World Wide Telescope (WWT).

One thing that initially struck me about the WWT was the ease for loading and use. Several larger astronomy programs have a knack for crashing or locking up mere mortal computers that many of us employ in the field. Released in early 2008, it runs pretty seamlessly for a Beta application. And this isn’t just a knock off of Google Earth; WWT gives you full access to a spectrum of surveys, from Hubble, WMAP to 2-MASS and more. The WWT promises unrestricted access to astrophysical data in an online community format. I’m particularly interested to see what users do with this access and the homemade tours they produce.

So, how useable is this software for in the field astronomy? Well, WWT does come with telescope controlling capability via the popular ASCOM series of controllers; in theory, one should be able to download the software plus the ASCOM drivers, connect and configure the telescope, and use it to point the instrument at various objects. Most new telescopes are now of the GOTO variety, although I’ve used similar software in a manual pointing capacity. I’ve heard of some users having difficulty getting the WWT to work in this regard…we welcome any personal success/failure stories as we have not yet attempted the use of WWT in this mode.

As a simulator, WWT does the job pretty well. For an example, we simulated next month’s South Pacific eclipse from various locales, and the WWT performed flawlessly. While use of the time controls and spatial location is pretty straight forward, we would like to see the inclusion of a local horizon and transit meridian to get a sense of our local bearings… an overall orientation does exist in the lower right side of the control panel but a plug-in addressing this would be handy, lest your telescope start pointing at the ground…

Which brings us to what I believe is the WWT’s greatest asset; its use for education. Star party clouded out? WWT would be a tremendous backup resource with its numerous tours of the sky; just keep in mind that it’s not a true “stand-alone” program as it does require an Internet connection to operate in the field. Right click on an object, and it gives you a quick look list of data. The format for star info is particularly refreshing… it gives you proper name, SAO, and just about any other pertinent catalog designation, all in one shot. This eliminates tedious cross referencing, as your scope may refer to a star by its esoteric forgotten medieval name (!) while you’re trying to hunt it down by SAO designator…

And heck, WWT is just plain fun to play with… I love the ability to probe the universe in infrared goggles, or pan around the Phoenix Lander site. Now in its second year, I’m really interested to see what folks will do with this new web-based tool and how new data will be integrated. One could easily see amateur astronomers banding together to use the data to scout out new comets or asteroids, or creating historical, you-are-there tours of the cosmos, or perhaps simply sharing their latest images or favorites via the community. You can never have too many planetarium programs, and WWT makes a worthy and unique addition to any growing collection.

Astro Documentaries

Pictured is a Delta IV rocket launch from Cape Canaveral on November 21st, 2010. The image is a 20 second exposure taken at dusk, shot from about 100 miles west of the launch site. The launch placed a classified payload in orbit for the United States Air Force.

DIY Astronomy

Difficult but not impossible to catch against the dawn or dusk sky, spotting an extreme crescent moon can be a challenge. The slender crescent pictured was shot 30 minutes before sunrise when the Moon was less than 20 hours away from New. A true feat of visual athletics to catch, a good pair of binoculars or a well aimed wide field telescopic view can help with the hunt.

The Sun is our nearest star, and goes through an 11-year cycle of activity. This image was taken via a properly filtered telescope, and shows the Sun as it appeared during its last maximum peak in 2003. This was during solar cycle #23, a period during which the Sun hurled several large flares Earthward. The next solar cycle is due to peak around 2013-14.

Astronomy Gear Reviews

Located in the belt of the constellation Orion, Messier 42, also known as the Orion Nebula is one of the finest deep sky objects in the northern hemisphere sky. Just visible as a faint smudge to the naked eye on a clear dark night, the Orion Nebula is a sure star party favorite, as it shows tendrils of gas contrasted with bright stars. M42 is a large stellar nursery, a star forming region about 1,000 light years distant.

Astronomical Observing Targets

Orbiting the planet in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) every 90 minutes, many people fail to realize that you can see the International Space Station (ISS) from most of the planet on a near-weekly basis. In fact, the ISS has been known to make up to four visible passes over the same location in one night. The image pictured is from the Fourth of July, 2011 and is a 20 second exposure of a bright ISS pass.

Next to the Sun, the two brightest objects in the sky are the Moon and the planet Venus. In fact, when Venus is favorably placed next to the Moon, it might just be possible to spot the two in the daytime. Another intriguing effect known as earthshine or ashen light is also seen in the image on the night side of the Moon; this is caused by sunlight reflected back off of the Earth towards our only satellite.

A mosaic of three images taken during the total lunar eclipse of December 21st, 2010. The eclipse occurred the same day as the winter solstice. The curve and size of the Earth’s shadow is apparent in the image.